tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9094742788006644220.post2774836564946225084..comments2019-02-14T22:06:37.480-08:00Comments on Mike Brown's Planets: The redemption of Snow White (Part 2)Mike Brownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9094742788006644220.post-42618102765602856692011-08-22T19:20:40.253-07:002011-08-22T19:20:40.253-07:00This article about Mike and &quot;Snow White&quot;...This article about Mike and &quot;Snow White&quot; and other dwarf planets was published today over on Science Daily, http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/08/110822124955.htm<br /><br />Really neat stuff! Thanks, Mike for you hard work! <br /><br />It&#39;s great to have a window on newly discovered dwarf planets and they seem to be just telling us more and more as time goes by. <br /><br />Thanks also for being a scientist who likes to communicate via blogs, public lectures, interviews, etc, with the general public, it really makes astronomy fun and fascinating for the astronomy loving or generally curious public.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9094742788006644220.post-18227998951764235202011-08-19T15:33:40.927-07:002011-08-19T15:33:40.927-07:00Has anybody suggested Horton (of Who fame) yet?Has anybody suggested Horton (of Who fame) yet?David Tanguaynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9094742788006644220.post-79588995849412612452011-08-18T03:11:19.501-07:002011-08-18T03:11:19.501-07:00I agree with George Smith: there&#39;s nothing so ...I agree with George Smith: there&#39;s nothing so redemptive as a silly public naming competition.vagueofgodalminghttp://sageofgodalming.livejournal.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9094742788006644220.post-58778439505845149032011-08-17T11:29:01.292-07:002011-08-17T11:29:01.292-07:00Mike:
I can&#39;t wait to see Part 3. The more I...Mike:<br /><br />I can&#39;t wait to see Part 3. The more I learn about these dwarfs, the more fascinated I am by them.<br /><br />On a related note: I&#39;ve found your nifty &quot;How many dwarf planets&quot; page (http://www.gps.caltech.edu/~mbrown/dps.html) via Twitter, but can&#39;t find a link on your main Caltech page. Am I missing something?<br /><br />Final note: I just finished reading &quot;How I Killed Pluto&quot; (practically in one sitting), and give it two thumbs up. The part where you&#39;re doing statistical analysis on Lilah&#39;s feeding times -- while simultaneously dealing with the unplanned announcements of the discoveries of Eris, Haumea and Makemake -- really made me laugh.<br /><br />Regards,<br /><br />Bob Shepard of DenverAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9094742788006644220.post-14082734872315421022011-08-17T07:18:17.158-07:002011-08-17T07:18:17.158-07:00&quot; ... Snow White would be 5th brightest, afte...&quot; ... Snow White would be 5th brightest, after Eris, Pluto, Makemake, Haumea, and Sedna ...&quot;<br /><br />Hum ! The 6th one at my count !<br /><br />About drawf planets candidates size, stellar occultations is a nice measurement method.<br />Waiting 2007 OR10, Makemake &amp; Quaoar results (5 chords each) will be available in october ...<br />http://meetingorganizer.copernicus.org/EPSC-DPS2011/oral_program/8905Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9094742788006644220.post-60037121798284997232011-08-16T15:11:14.628-07:002011-08-16T15:11:14.628-07:00Dear Anonymous:
Mr. Mike Brown was the one who ca...Dear Anonymous:<br /><br />Mr. Mike Brown was the one who came up with the (nick)name of Snow White and is just a friendlier moniker in lieu of 2007 OR10; it is not its official name.<br /><br />But since the nickname &quot;Snow White&quot; does not even reflect the characteristics of the world, how is one to propose an official one?<br /><br />So relax, take a chill pill and wait for more information to be gathered about the individual attributes of this newly discovered world; only then could a mythological name be considered.<br /><br />Original message being responded to:<br /><br />Anonymous said... <br /><br />&quot;Oh god, not again with the naming things after Lilah. The only objects that can be named after living people are main belt asteroids, and only by the discoverers. Let&#39;s stick to mythology.&quot; <br /><br />August 15, 2011 10:16 PMGeorge Smithnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9094742788006644220.post-62250868695405906102011-08-16T11:56:52.746-07:002011-08-16T11:56:52.746-07:00Hi Mike, there wasn&#39;t longer time your amendme...Hi Mike, there wasn&#39;t longer time your amendment about global weather changes on your favourite moon Titan. Such strange arrow shaped storm or what it could be there wasn&#39;t yet,... <br />space.com/12640-saturn-moon-titan-weird-cloud-explained.html<br />There are suddenly too many very expensive cosmic ray detectors in space, !? Results from Milagro were officially not interesting,....gha, uf,mh,..<br />universetoday.com/88230/ring-of-anti-protons-found-encircling-earth/<br />news.cnet.com/8301-19514_3-20064442-239.html<br />scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=the-space-stations-crown-jewel<br />Pavel SmutnyAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9094742788006644220.post-12564172885386814482011-08-15T22:16:03.622-07:002011-08-15T22:16:03.622-07:00Oh god, not again with the naming things after Lil...Oh god, not again with the naming things after Lilah. The only objects that can be named after living people are main belt asteroids, and only by the discoverers. Let&#39;s stick to mythology.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9094742788006644220.post-9376087713350560422011-08-14T15:12:57.677-07:002011-08-14T15:12:57.677-07:00the sun is pretty bright, but I guess there must b...the sun is pretty bright, but I guess there must be an out in the definition of &quot;intrinsically&quot;<br /><br />Paul W. to WyomingAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9094742788006644220.post-32298603284400690002011-08-13T20:04:34.398-07:002011-08-13T20:04:34.398-07:00Is it possible, however unlikely that Snow White c...Is it possible, however unlikely that Snow White could have an atmosphere? If it has volatiles within, like a &quot;dwarf planet/comet,&quot; but instead of having a tail, it has an atmosphere, even a thin one could in theory, have reflectivity and double the brightness. <br /><br />Perhaps red dust, common in the area of our Solar System, has settled onto this dwarf planet/comet, which would explain its red color. <br /><br />Perhaps Snow White should be renamed Snow Red, Red Snow, Little Red Riding Hood (in honor of Lilah) or Cherry Snow Cone???<br /><br />George SmithGeorge Smithnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9094742788006644220.post-23920024622941892172011-08-13T13:04:38.402-07:002011-08-13T13:04:38.402-07:00Dear Mr. Brown:
L.T.N.S., glad to hear from you a...Dear Mr. Brown:<br /><br />L.T.N.S., glad to hear from you again.<br /><br />Thankfully you will not be &quot;blinded&quot; for long as the EELT is under construction in Chile, to replace the worn-out Keck telescope, which hopefully will last as long as the Keck.<br /><br />Although I must say as an ignorant outsider, that it seems a tad strange that in the day and age of digital this and that, that we would have to keep building larger and larger &quot;conventional&quot; visible light telescopes; just much larger and more sophisticated versions of telescopes invented in the 17th century. <br /><br />Eventually, astronauts in space will be able to shave themselves by looking at the Super Ginormous Telescope (SGT) mirror on Earth.<br /><br />It is interesting, but not seemingly surprising, to discover that an object can become brighter, i.e. if you put break the capsules within a glow stick it start the chemical reaction that causes the sticks to glow, gradually the sticks will become dimmer over time. However, if you place the spent sticks in a freezer, that not only glow again, but become much brighter.<br /><br />Other possibilities for changing brightness (not necessarily regarding Snow White):<br /><br />Perhaps frozen or as in the case of Titan, liquid bodies (lakes, rivers, oceans) could cause the reflectivity to change as the world rotates, orbits or changes seasons.<br /><br />It is possible for an icy crust to melt from geothermal forces including vulcanism. <br /><br />Perhaps the surface could be blanketed with rocks or minerals, like obsidian or quartz here on Earth, that have a reflective (naturally polished sheen) surface.<br /><br />It could actually be a chunk of ice, covered in a mottled fashion, with a thin layer of oxidized dust, such as rusty iron, making it appear both reddish and brighter than other nearby objects. <br /><br />Cryovolcanism could cause reflective ice crystals to be blasted into a world&#39;s atmosphere as on Titan or blasted into space, then fall to the world&#39;s surface which occurs on Enceladus and Io. <br /><br />But whatever the case, interesting yes, surprising, no. <br /><br />G.T.H.Y.B.<br /><br />George Smith-George Smithnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9094742788006644220.post-60465361238012235702011-08-12T13:10:56.132-07:002011-08-12T13:10:56.132-07:00A question: has anyone followed up on 2002 UX25 or...A question: has anyone followed up on 2002 UX25 or 2003 AZ84 since their moons were discovered?agmartinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14559477374723896051noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9094742788006644220.post-56169414109498687582011-08-12T13:07:49.821-07:002011-08-12T13:07:49.821-07:00Hey Mike,
Is your team sifting through any WISE ...Hey Mike, <br /><br />Is your team sifting through any WISE mission data? <br /><br />If so, can you give any hints on outer solar system body discoveries that might be suggested in the data?<br /><br />Thanks, JohnAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9094742788006644220.post-65234277065803685442011-08-12T12:22:31.374-07:002011-08-12T12:22:31.374-07:00You ARE a good writer, Mike :D A mark of a good w...You ARE a good writer, Mike :D A mark of a good writer is the punchline.<br /><br />This brings up a couple of questions, though. One, how much of the sky did your survey miss because of clouds &amp; etc? Surely there are patches of blankness somewhere. I know this because the Perseid meteor shower comes tomorrow morning, and I have the most terrible luck with meteor showers and clouds. Looks good for tomorrow, though.<br /><br />Another has to do with the Kepler and WISE missions. Kepler announced a data release and then said there would be a more comprehensive release &quot;later&quot;. All the reporters in the room howled with frustration. WISE did the same thing, promised a data release in May, then moved that up to April, then released only RAW data. Very frustrating seeing as my computer is burnt out and I can&#39;t examine it myself. They have not announced ANY &quot;magentas&quot; (my name for objects 1-13 mJ because according to J. Davy Kirkpatrick that&#39;s what color they are) within the ten light years it can see them, and I am virtually certain that there MUST be a magenta within that distance.<br /><br />The above paragraph is about being wrong. Maybe I&#39;M wrong, as you know I&#39;ve made some public predictions. If one is wrong, then one must set aside a period to agonize over it. Let&#39;s face it, it&#39;s a hard thing.<br /><br />It&#39;s even harder not to KNOW whether you are right or wrong. Now the date is set back to March 2012. I realize that some very important announcements need to be gone over carefully to make sure it&#39;s not a piece of lint on the lens or some cloud in the corner. Still, I feel like the old vulture cartoon, &quot;Patience my eye, I&#39;m going to KILL something!&quot; (Besides, I have funding agencies that want to KNOW. Right NOW. They would not understand your articla at all.)mikeemmerthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06086633057200198850noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9094742788006644220.post-1241319211487263592011-08-12T01:08:42.223-07:002011-08-12T01:08:42.223-07:00I said in my previous comment: &#39;but magnitude ...I said in my previous comment: &#39;but magnitude remains the same&#39;. Well it usually does... but it&#39;s not even the case here. So red (darker) and with quite greater apparent magnitude than expected... how big is Snow White? <br /><br />I&#39;m expecting something like in the range of Eris but I&#39;m not really good with the maths involved, so I&#39;ll have to wait for the final post, I guess.Majuhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12369840391933337204noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9094742788006644220.post-24010222351033426812011-08-11T20:54:51.987-07:002011-08-11T20:54:51.987-07:00I love your stories about science unfolding. How I...I love your stories about science unfolding. How I Killed Pluto (And Why It Had It Coming) was the first book I ever purchased for my Kindle, and I couldn&#39;t have picked a better book. Your enthusiasm for your work is infectious. You manage to convey the drama of your discoveries while simultaneously showing that it is a career, similar to many people&#39;s, and that parts of it are a slog, just like everyone else. Equal parts excitement and humility keep me coming back for more. In short, I&#39;m glad you&#39;re getting back into the swing of blogging. Keep up the good work.Charliehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06582002690213501584noreply@blogger.com